Today, Fulham have beaten West Bromwich Albion by 1-2 in a crucial away fixture. Fulham currently sit 13th in the Barclays Premier League table, the victory against the Baggies was the first win after a lenghty spell without positive results for Fulham.
The cause for this post is a little different though: During the last couple of games, Martin Jol has tested young fullback Matthew Briggs in place of the out-of-form left back John Arne Riise. Briggs showed a steady performance during the loss against Swansea (1-2) and overall had a good game against Albion, albeit he was partly responsible for WBA's goal.
Albion's right back Billy Jones had a great game, caused havoc and showed decent dribbling skills ahead of their goal. Matty Briggs had difficulties against him. It's got to be said that he didn't get that much support from left winger Alex Kacaniklic.
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| Part of the group - Matthew Briggs (l.) celebrates Berbatov's opener. |
Whereas he was definitely at fault ahead of Romelu Lukaku's equalizer, he made some vital interceptions and some good overlapping runs. It is clear that he's not the finished article yet, and it's obvious that he needs some coaching in terms of his marking. It's clearly not tight enough. Having said this, I think it is worthwhile to hang onto him. He's shown some good promise, is a strong lad and, whereas it's obviously too early to run the rule over him, I definitely think he deserves a decent run out.
As most of you will know, I'm a strong advocate of the youth at Fulham. In Alex Kacaniklic, Matthew Briggs, Kerim Frei and Pajtim Kasami we've got some decent prospects out there. Whereas the two wingers Kacaniklic and Frei received much pitch time during the course of the season, Briggs and especially Kasami didn't get much of that.
During the last couple of weeks, I had lenghty discussions about this topic with my twitter followers. As they will know, I'm all for more pitch time for youngsters. Today, I got a lot of stick because I defended young Matthew Briggs. I thought he did really well, especially in contrast to the recent performances of experienced John Arne Riise.
While I don't understand this, I can still see why it's annoying to bleed in youngsters. It's amazing though that many young guys on twitter think Briggs is 'not good enough' or even 'shite'. If you were in Matty Briggs' position, what would you prefer? A coach who gives you a chance to improve or a coach who drops you after one mistake? Clearly I'd prefer the former.
My reasoning is pretty simple actually. Play them and they will benefit from that. Is it really that simple? No, obviously not, but at times it's really helpful for a youngster to get first team minutes under his belt. They will make mistakes, but in my opinion it's still a lot better to play a 21-year-old who makes one or two mistakes in his first performances than a 33-year-old who - in addition - does earn a multiple of the young 'uns wages.
This aspect is important too, as owner Mohamed Al-Fayed wants the club to be self-sustainable in the longer term. Signing elder players for low fees is one thing - but players like Riise do earn around 40k/week, whereas younger players like Briggs only earn a fraction of that. You may even sell them on for a big fee - that's always the distant possibility around when you've got younger players with talent. We've seen this with Dembele. It can definitely be a worthwhile investment. Get them aboard for a relatively low fee and sell them on for twice as much. I think we should look at this instead of what we did before or what we're doing now.
While I agree with you - you need a couple of experienced players, a good core of a team - it is important to see the bigger picture. Fulham already have the oldest team in this division. In November, against Chelsea, the average age of the starting XI was almost 32 years! When Martin Jol signed for Fulham, in June 2011, he said that he wanted to make the squad younger. Well, up until now, he didn't do it. The upcoming January transfer window will give us no clue as to where he intends to take this squad, as it's not easy to get value for money during the winter window. I guess we'll have to wait until summer to see what Jol has in store for this team.
Another one who I fiercly defended and who I want to see in action again is 20-year-old midfielder Pajtim Kasami. Kasami, a swiss youth international, was signed from US Palermo, roughly a month after Martin Jol took over from Mark Hughes. Kasami had played more than 15 matches for Palermo in the italian Serie A and the Coppa Italia - as an 18-year-old, mind. Under Jol, he got regular pitch time during the first half of his first season. While he didn't 'shine', he did his job and wasn't to shabby. When the boys visited Stamford Bridge to face Chelsea in the League Cup, he even felt confident enough to take a penalty. Unfortunately for the young lad and for Fulham, he missed it. After the match the club imposed a £500 fine on the kid. After that, he never got another real look in. The odd cameo every now and then, but nothing more.
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| Starlet - Pajtim Kasami showed early promise for Palermo |
Many people say that he's 'not good enough' or 'shite' - well, see where we are again - while I agree that he hardly set the world alight during his spell at Fulham, I find this reasoning rather odd. He did well for Palermo and he attracted the attention of a certain Martin Jol. I think it's a shame that he doesn't even get cameos anymore, especially with our depleted midfield.
I acknowledge that Martin Jol is a great football coach, but I'd like to think that the fact that we're down to the bare bones almost warrants a chance for Kasami to get another run out.
I understand where the critics are coming from, but a lack of experience and sloppy performances in youth games shouldn't prevent a player from regular pitch time. I can fully understand the kid, I would also get a bit annoyed when the coach continuously ignores me.
I agree, neither Briggs nor Kasami are the finished article, and they've got to learn an awful lot to be Premiership starters (Briggs' marking for instance) I reckon they'll only get better when they play regular football. Kasami has got talent, I've seen Serie A matches of him and a couple of youth matches too - he may only need some confidence.
People often underestimate how confidence can change a player. Throw them on, throw them on in difficult circumstances, and they may surprise you.
I for one think they deserve their chance, very much so. Even if they haven't shown yet that they can perform at the big stage.
Leon, if you read this, this is my 'whatever'.
Cheers,
Sönke (@MrFulham)
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